Rekindled (Swole and Pat)

Luka sat back on the bench, staring at the steam that rose from the cup he held "Late as always...I suppose he's too important to be punctual." Two dull orange eyes drifted along his surroundings, observing the game of chess that two old men played, the frustration in their eyes as the game drew to an end. He dragged his attention back to the park that surrounded him, the piles of snow that had built up due to the plows and children creating forts to fight from...the trees which were barren of leaves...the street performer who did basic street magic for mere quarters.

This was the life that Luka had chosen, stepping away from the life of heroism and combat for the simplicity of coffee on a cold morning, and crisp air running through his lungs. He sighed, standing up from the bench and stretching his limbs, before looking down at his watch. "You've got five more minutes, Damian." He groaned, pacing the walkway impatiently, sipping on his coffee every few steps, like clockwork. Luka stopped, peering at those around him, who were staring at him as if he were a madman..it took a second for him to look back at his steps, all perfectly in the same spots, in a perfect circle. He smiled at them and put a hand on the back of his head with a small shrug "Sorry, all, just caught up in my own thoughts." In all fairness, it didn't help that he was there in compression pants, a tanktop and flip flops...not exactly appropriate attire for the middle of January.

The cold brushed like delicate fingers against the bare flesh of his arms. Faint reminders of the cold temperatures as well as the snow fall it had fascinated only moments ago. Below the city passed like a blur, white with mixtures of gray that all blended together into a nonsensical mess. Something he had stopped paying attention to a while ago as he continued to look over the city despite the fact he wasn’t doing his usual duty. It was hard not to look over the people, trying to help the best that he could with his limited scope. He knew he had a reason for being out here, besides simply flying through the city and the park was coming close. Admittedly he was a little late, stopping a few muggings on the way but that was to be expected. Damian never stopped his work.

Soon enough the place came into focus, and he stopped. 100 to 0 in less than a second as he heard the sound of wind rushing past his ears give way to children screaming ind delight, throwing snowballs around and building their snowmen. He smiled, descending from on high and landing in a thick patch of snow. Dressed in a dark blue flannel shirt over a white wife beater and a pair of cargo shorts, more summer clothes than anything else but he looked unphased. Temperature temperatures of 22 F were not something that bothered him at all. A few children ran upto him, delighted instead of the fear that they would have felt towards a random metahuman flying in. A snowball slapped into his face audibly, fragments of frozen water flaking off from his defined features and the rest wiped away.

Damien chuckled, eyeing the kid who did so and hid behind their small wall of snow. Mismatched eyes fell on Luka, settled within a ring of footprints in the snow. ”Sorry for the tardiness, got caught up doing a few hero things. Crime never rests, even on a snow day.” He apologized, fingers running through the hair on the back of his head. ”Nice to see i’m not the only one dressed wrong for this kind of weather.”

Luka's eyes drifted from the crowd as his hand dropped back to his side "I'm glad I gave all of that up...constantly running around, no time to enjoy the smaller things in life" The russian made his way to Damian, placing a hand on his shoulder "But I suppose I can dig deep, and forgive you...old friend" He peered at the children, and began to grin, taking a quick step back as snowballs began to fly in their direction "Seems the man that villains fear so much, is but a mere playmate for children,hmm?" Luka let out a short lived laugh, as he began to cough, covering it with his elbow.

As he pulled away, he peered at the thick blood that coated his skin, hoping to wipe it away before Damian could ever notice. "So what new and epic adventure have you gone on recently? Any ancient evils, or...or...diabolical masterminds? Or maybe just a lowly thug trying to steal a purse..though that may be a bit overkill if you show up." He stuck his tongue out at the hero "Y'know..because if you simply breathe on them they're in a full body cast, you big ol' brute." Luka turned around back to his bench, which remained undisturbed, with another cup of coffee sitting on it. He paced his way over, and brought it back to Damian, with a grin "One super sweetened coffee, because I couldn't gauge how much of a bitch you were." He snorted, taking a deep sip of his dark roasted, pure black coffee with three shots of espresso...and a bit of vodka, though that was added a bit later. "So what's on the agenda today...museum? Broadway show? Tourist spots?"

”Might be the case but I enjoy it. Nothing makes me feel happier than just seeing the looks of relief on peoples faces.” He said, appearing almost happy when saying this. Damian loved helping people, so he tried to do so whenever the chance came about. Even making his friend happy was something he wanted to do despite the fact he had a tendency to be tardy when they actually met up. Not thathe expected anything more than a lighthearted jab. More snowballs came, though he didn’t avoid them much like the first one. Instead they began to steam, water rapidly melting a little quickly as he was clean once again.

A cough came, though he smelled something in the air. Was that blood? His eyes darted about, looking for the source and settled on one of the kids crying as they clutched their bloody nose. That had to be the explanation for what had happened. ”Not too many things recently i’m afraid. Just purse snatchers and a metahuman that decided to get overboard with a bank. Guess a lot of the bad guys know not to mess around in my city. Not unless they want to get taken down anyway.” He shrugged, laughing off the fact that might have actually been the case. If peoples lives could be easier, he was fine with nothing needing his strength.

An ultimate deterrent.

Accepting the coffee, he sipped it and sighed contently. ”I prefer my coffee to taste like something other than dirt water.” he shot back with a smirk, taking a few more sips. ”Was thinking we could do a little shopping. I rarely ever get to see the city iI protect.  I mean, when i’m not flying over it anyway.”  Another sip. ”I’ve seen a few museums on my flies before, maybe we can visit one of them. History seems pretty cool.”